Shaping the tripartite symbiosis: are termite microbiome functions directed by the environmentally acquired fungal cultivar?

Microbiome assembly critically impacts the ability of hosts to access beneficial symbiont functions. Fungus-farming termites have co-evolved with a fungal cultivar as a primary food source and complex gut microbiomes, which collectively perform complementary degradation of plant biomass. A large subset of the bacterial community residing within termite guts are inherited (vertically transmitted) from parental colonies, while the fungal symbiont is, in most termite species, acquired from the environment (horizontally transmitted).

Resolution of eleven reported and five novel species based on ITS phylogeny, phylogenomics, morphology, ecology, and geographic distribution.

The genus was first described from India by Linnaeus in 1771, but several revisions of the genus have left the taxonomy unclear. Forty-four species names and nine intraspecific varieties are currently accepted, but most fungarium specimens are labelled . Recent molecular analyses based on barcoding genes suggest that the genus comprises several species, but their status is largely unresolved.

Resistance and Vulnerability of Honeybee () Gut Bacteria to Commonly Used Pesticides.

Agricultural and apicultural practices expose honeybees to a range of pesticides that have the potential to negatively affect their physiology, neurobiology, and behavior. Accumulating evidence suggests that these effects extend to the honeybee gut microbiome, which serves important functions for honeybee health. Here we test the potential effects of the pesticides thiacloprid, acetamiprid, and oxalic acid on the gut microbiota of honeybees, first in direct inhibition assays and secondly in an caged bee experiment to test if exposure leads to gut microbiota community changes.